Tuesday 29 April 2008 

Archbishop Denis Hart has urged Catholics of Melbourne to oppose new euthanasia legislation that is to be presented to the Victorian Parliament.

Archbishop Hart has also written to members of Parliament urging them to defeat the new legislation for the sake of those who are chronically ill or dying. 

A draft Medical Treatment (Physician Assisted Dying) Bill 2008 has been prepared by Neil Francis, President of Dying With Dignity Victoria, and is to be proposed to the Victorian Parliament by Colleen Hartland, Member for Western Metropolitan and Hon. Ken Smith, Member for Bass.

In a letter sent last week, Archbishop Hart alerted priests of Melbourne to the gravity of the proposed legislation and asked that they urgently inform parishioners of the proposed legislation. He has asked priests to encourage parishioners to write to their local members of State Parliament expressing their opposition to the Bill.

"Members of the Victorian Parliament need to be made aware that they are accountable to their electorates and that how they vote is a matter of great consequence," wrote Archbishop Hart.

"They need to be reminded that they are not authorised to impose on our society the secular agenda of a few and ignore the moral and religious values of so many Australians."
 
Read Archbishop Hart's letter to priests, 24 April 2008